So a week ago I drove all day and night and day to pick up this sweet 1980 FLT. From Chattanooga TN to north Chicago IL. This was by far the worst road trip I have ever made in my life thanks to the constant construction, multiple wrecks and horrible storms. What should have been a 20-24 hour trip took 36. But all that aside I now have this amazing shovel and couldn’t be happier.
I took her for the maiden voyage Friday and realized fairly quickly that the brakes are horrible. I don’t mean like they are 41 years old and that’s how they work. I have ridden bikes with just rear drums and cars with manual drums all around that stop a million times better than this thing.
So I started looking online and found out that parts are kinda scarce. I can find some NOS right side calipers but not the left. I can find pads. And the main thing I think is causing my grief is the brake line rubbers. Haven’t looked for them yet as I can just have some made up locally by my work.
The front pads are fairly thin but not horrible. The rear pads look great. Rotors are suspect as the fronts are fairly wavy and the rear, while smooth, has a few cracks.
I’ve read that the calipers are kinda “loose” in the front and there is a strip of padding between the leg and caliper to combat this. I removed the left side and found this pad intact. The right side I couldn’t get off because the nuts are spinning inside the caliper but I looked and it does not have this pad. Is it normal for them to have so much movement on the sliders?
At slow speeds, say 10mph or less, there is a very loud clattering noise that the seller told me was the speedo cable or the drive. While I know they will make noise similar to this if I look down I can see the lowers shaking and it leads me to believe that it’s the calipers getting in a bind from being so sloppy.
So I guess all in all my question is can I make this thing stop without updating to a newer brake set up and what is up with the rattling shaky calipers? Here is a pic of Lucy.

 

there should be movement in the calipers but not side to side. my fx front brakes were useless the pads were not worn but dirty . changed the pads and cleaned the rotors and was shocked at the improvement.

 

Yep those brakes suck - what i have done is up grade the forks to evo or 2 cam bike brakes < they work well the later the better and on the e bay you can find used take offs for chrome ones someone did

sometimes you can get sintered pads for the FLT calipers but i will need to look - the organic **** is just that

 

Well that’s not what I was hoping for. I didn’t really want to put newer parts on it. But if that’s the best option I guess that’s it. I will try to find some non shitty pads, turn the rotors and rebuild these then if they are still that bad I will look for newer take offs like suggested. I very much appreciate the info y’all!

 

Cant cut the rotors forget that - two faced tape works for caliper movenment - will see if i can find the subs or what ever sintered brake pads i need a set for my 81 anyway

 

got my pads from metalgear international $79 delivered

 

Ok so new rotors then lol. And sintered pads here I come! I will try putting some sort of padding or double sided foam in there to fix the calipers when I replace everything. I did hold the front brake lever and try to move the calipers and they didn’t move so that makes me feel a little better about the situation.
Thank you for the info on where to get the pads. And everyone for all the help! You all are great!

 

i don t want to throw a spanner in the works but my mate whos a mc mech and to me the best one around on jap bikes said get organic and clean the rotors. worked for me

 

I'm not sure if this is your first shovel or not.
the brakes on my shovel aren't as nice as the ones in my twin cam but they do stop me. I wonder if you just have to get used to the different feel of your brakes. I don't see why you can't keep the original stuff on there. Start by bleeding the brakes, maybe air in the lines? Probably won't hurt to rebuild the calipers. Yes to the new rotors.

I can only say that there will be plenty you will need to do to make the bike perform how you want it to. It's an ongoing project.

You have a sweet bike!
Tom

 

Well dang it! I did find a company that makes rotors, lines, and pads for front and rear both organic and sintered so I will place an order maybe tomorrow. Seems kinda up in the air about which kind of pads. I know for my Mtn bike pads it depends on riding conditions but I’ve usually done sintered as opposed to organic. I will keep you all posted on what I get coming my way!